Taft-1 "Magic"

wabishtar · 09-21-2011, 10:09 PM

In GURPS Infinite Worlds : Worlds of Horror, one of the worlds is Taft-1, and it has the Soviet Union (and Stalin in particular) making a dark pact with Azathoth of the Lovecraft mythos. There is a side box that mentions that the "magic" of Taft-1 isn't really magic, but is "hypergeometrical manipulation of extradimensional forces: TL12^ superscience, with no technological infrastructure". In GURPS terms, however, this boils down to using a magic system. Specifically, the Path/Book system, with the books being various texts from the Lovecraft mythos. The two examples given are the Necronomicon and the Pnaktonic Manuscripts. I absolutely love the world of Taft-1, and I plan to use it in my Infinite Worlds game, but I must confess, my knowledge of Lovecraft is a bit lacking. I've read some of his stories, but I don't really know the forbidden texts that exist in the Mythos universe that well, which makes building the Taft-1 "magic" system a bit problematic. I suppose I could piece it together from wikipedia, but I don't trust the wiki to give me real depth into see forbidden texts. I know it's asking a lot, but could someone who knows Lovecraft pretty well suggest to me what books I should use, and what rituals should be contained in them? Thank you in advance to anyone gracious enough to help me.

Turhan's Bey Company · 09-21-2011, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wabishtar

I suppose I could piece it together from wikipedia

Do that. The Mythos (as originally written by Lovecraft and to a much lesser extent by his peers) was less a system and more a batch of names people stole from one another's stories and a general mood of cosmic horror. The books hold dark secrets, but we only get hints and fragments about their contents. So do what Lovecraft did: take the names (I'm sure Wikipedia has a good list) and use them in whatever way your campaign needs.

Refplace · 09-21-2011, 10:38 PM

What TBC said.
Wiki and other sources will give you names and descriptions of some of the Elder and Outer Gods and the Alians.
Then build off what that inspires.
I would focus on Summoning and fear spells.

Gigermann · 09-21-2011, 10:41 PM

Get a copy of GURPS:Cthulupunk (3e)—it describes many of the books, what you find in them (generally), how damaging they are to your psyche, etc.

Jürgen Hubert · 09-22-2011, 02:08 AM

Also get Delta Green and Delta Green: Countdown which have government organizations on both sides of the Cold War involved with the Mythos forces.

Those books are largely set in the 1990s, but the history sections of these organizations are fairly extensive, which should help. Plus, these rate among the best gaming books ever published.

DocRailgun · 09-22-2011, 07:54 AM

Of course, if you're going to buy a non-GURPS book for research purposes, a copy of Chaosium's Call of Ctuhulu will have a list of books and plenty more about the Mythos.

09-21-2011, 10:09 PM	#1
wabishtar Join Date: Oct 2006	Taft-1 "Magic" In GURPS Infinite Worlds : Worlds of Horror, one of the worlds is Taft-1, and it has the Soviet Union (and Stalin in particular) making a dark pact with Azathoth of the Lovecraft mythos. There is a side box that mentions that the "magic" of Taft-1 isn't really magic, but is "hypergeometrical manipulation of extradimensional forces: TL12^ superscience, with no technological infrastructure". In GURPS terms, however, this boils down to using a magic system. Specifically, the Path/Book system, with the books being various texts from the Lovecraft mythos. The two examples given are the Necronomicon and the Pnaktonic Manuscripts. I absolutely love the world of Taft-1, and I plan to use it in my Infinite Worlds game, but I must confess, my knowledge of Lovecraft is a bit lacking. I've read some of his stories, but I don't really know the forbidden texts that exist in the Mythos universe that well, which makes building the Taft-1 "magic" system a bit problematic. I suppose I could piece it together from wikipedia, but I don't trust the wiki to give me real depth into see forbidden texts. I know it's asking a lot, but could someone who knows Lovecraft pretty well suggest to me what books I should use, and what rituals should be contained in them? Thank you in advance to anyone gracious enough to help me.

09-21-2011, 10:38 PM	#3
Refplace Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Yukon, OK	Re: Taft-1 "Magic" What TBC said. Wiki and other sources will give you names and descriptions of some of the Elder and Outer Gods and the Alians. Then build off what that inspires. I would focus on Summoning and fear spells.

09-21-2011, 10:41 PM	#4
Gigermann Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Oklahoma City	Re: Taft-1 "Magic" Get a copy of GURPS:Cthulupunk (3e)—it describes many of the books, what you find in them (generally), how damaging they are to your psyche, etc. __________________ The Art of D. Raymond Lunceford, The Daniverse: Core Group Annex The Daniverse Game Blog

09-22-2011, 02:08 AM	#5
Jürgen Hubert Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Oldenburg, Germany	Re: Taft-1 "Magic" Also get *Delta Green* and *Delta Green: Countdown* which have government organizations on both sides of the Cold War involved with the Mythos forces. Those books are largely set in the 1990s, but the history sections of these organizations are fairly extensive, which should help. Plus, these rate among the best gaming books ever published. __________________ GURPS Repository • Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles - translating German folk tales into English!

09-22-2011, 07:54 AM	#6
DocRailgun Join Date: Jul 2006	Re: Taft-1 "Magic" Of course, if you're going to buy a non-GURPS book for research purposes, a copy of Chaosium's Call of Ctuhulu will have a list of books and plenty more about the Mythos.